Short Takes – 2-7-23

Air Weapons: Improvised Precision Weapons. StrategyPage.com article. Pull quote: “Ukrainian recently released a video showing the successful use of improvised precision munitions combining a large quadcopter carrying a grenade equipped with plastic fins produced by a 3-D printer dropped into a T-72 with an open hatch. Other targets included Russian trenches, foxholes and even the sun roof of a car.” Can terrorist use be far behind?

CSB Urges EPA to Prioritize Fluid Catalytic Cracking Inspections. ChemicalProcessing.com article. Pull quote: “The CSB pointed to its investigations of near-miss HF releases -- the 2019 fire and explosions at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery, and both the 2015 ExxonMobil Torrance refinery explosion and the 2018 Husky Energy superior refinery explosion and fire.”

Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator. NREL.gov announcement. I’m late seeing this, deadline Friday for applications. Pull quote: “Cohort 2 will assess solutions that actively identify all industrial control system assets connected to a utility's infrastructure, both physically and virtually, to understand the totality of assets that need to be monitored and protected within the environment. The solutions should support the identification of unauthorized, unmanaged, or compromised assets to be removed or remediated.”

Spectrum Rules and Policies for the Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Federal Register, FCC NPRM. Summary: “In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) seeks comment on rules to promote access by unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operators to licensed spectrum to support UAS operations. First, this document seeks comment on service rules for the 5030-5091 MHz band that will provide UAS operators with access to licensed spectrum with the reliability necessary to support safety-critical UAS command-and-control communications links. Second, due to the increasing interest in operating UAS using existing terrestrial flexible-use spectrum networks, this document seeks comment on whether the Commission's current rules are adequate to ensure co-existence of terrestrial mobile operations and UAS use or whether changes to these rules are necessary.”

Request for Information on the 2023 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan. Federal Register, NSF RFI. Summary: “Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014, Federal agencies must update the Federal cybersecurity research and development (R&D) strategic plan every four years. The NITRD NCO seeks public input for the 2023 update of the Federal cybersecurity R&D strategic plan. The updated plan will be used to guide and coordinate federally funded research in cybersecurity, including cybersecurity education and workforce development, and the development of consensus-based standards and best practices in cybersecurity.”

Hackers are mass infecting servers worldwide by exploiting a patched hole. Gurgg.Substack.com article. Pull quote: “But we live in reality, where bugs sit in vendor’s bug trackers for months (or years), and patches are applied on only some boxes. In reality when a patch (and maybe vulnerability announcement) is released it is the threat actors who pay attention.”